On With Life and On With Love
by AngelsMinion
Summary: Sequal to Uncommon Curses. Watch as five amazing teenagers transform into true adults and learn the true meaning of life and love. It's rather angsty in the beginning, but it will lighten up in the end. Recommend reading Uncommon Curses first, for there w
1. Wilting Lily

A/N: I promised you a story, and I give you a story. Here it is, the SEQUAL TO UNCOMMON CURSES.  
  
Disclaimer: Once again, I impress upon you that I DO NOT own any of the copy rights to J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter. If you believe so, you should sit down and think long and hard about your mental capabilities. And to tell you the truth, the only thing I own relating to the infamous books are a copy of each one of the currently four books, and a cute bookmark with Hedwig on it. But remember, before you sue: THIS AUTHOR DOES NOT OWN ANY OF THE COPY RIGHTS TO J.K. ROWLING'S "HARRY POTTER".  
  
On With Life and On With Love  
  
Wilting Lily  
  
Lily was lying in bed. It was one week after the attack of the train, and she had gotten hundreds of get well cards from her many admirers, and several letters from the Marauders and Teri; much to annoyance of her sister, Petunia.  
  
It was strange, she had nothing to do. Her mother had made her stay in bed the entire time, she was only allowed out of bed to bathe, brush her teeth, and go to the bathroom. So, instead of doing anything the least bit active, she had finished her essays and other homework; she had written several letters to Teri, James, Sirius, and Remus; all of whom had complained of, like her, being stuck in either their room or their beds, depending on how doting the parent was, and she had reorganized her entire trunk and closet four times.  
  
Her mother said that if, when they went to see the doctor, she said it was alright for Lily to have fun, she would be allowed to go outside, and stay at Teri's house, and near the end of the summer maybe go back to her old summer routine.  
  
Lily decided to write Teri a letter asking her friend once again to sneak out, and help Lily escape.  
  
'Dear Wings,  
  
Life has began to get back to normal. Okay it hasn't, but who's to say that life is perfect. I get to visit the doctor tomorrow, and hopefully I'll be able to coerce her into telling my mum that it's okay for me to be active again.  
  
But enough about that, have you been reading the news?! It's awful, people everywhere are dying, and it's entirely my fault.'  
  
Lily started to cry. Everyday the Daily Prophet arrived, and everyday there were more reported deaths, and every time the only thing left standing was a single white lily.  
  
'Voldemort leaves a white lily for me every time he attacks, *drip* it's awful, and if people found out who I was, they would try to kill me *drip*. Not that I would blame them, but it's my fault that those people are dying, and I can't do a thing about it.  
  
Your Depressed, in need of rescue, Friend,  
  
Foxy'  
  
Lily sealed the letter, and sent it off with her owl.  
  
She lay in her bed for the rest of the day, crying her eyes out, trying to forget that five Hogwarts students had been murdered that day. 


	2. Safe Haven?

Safe Haven?  
  
There was one week of summer left.  
  
Lily walked out of the house. She had visited the doctor with her mother and had gotten the okay to leave the house, and the forced confinement.  
  
She was old enough to drive, and her father had taken her to get her license the other day; she walked over to the car she shared with her sister, which her sister never used, and started the engine.  
  
She drove to Teri's house, about twenty minutes away.  
  
"Hey Wings, how are you?" Lily asked as she walked into her friends room. "You ready to go? My dad's said it's alright for me to go over to James' house with you, on the condition that I call every night with on my cell."  
  
"Great," said Teri, grunting as she tried to get the truck she was packing closed. Teri made some inarticulate sound as she fell on the floor.  
  
Lily laughed and after another three minutes of shoving and pounding, they got Teri's trunk closed, and with a little help from Teri's dad, Teri's father got the trunk into the back of Lily's car.  
  
~*********~  
  
"Hey guys," called Lily, when she and Teri got to James' house.  
  
"AHHHH!" yelled Teri, when Sirius tackled her onto the floor.  
  
"Hey sweetie," said James to Lily, giving her a deep kiss.  
  
"Hey to you too," said Lily just before she gave him a kiss of her own.  
  
~********~  
  
When Lily and Teri were all settled in they all went outside, to hang out by the pool.  
  
The guys were already wet, splashing at each other, and having races down and back across the pool.  
  
Teri came out in a dark blue bikini, which matched her blue eyes perfectly; and by the time she had been outside for three seconds she was in the pool; having been pulled in my Sirius.  
  
Lily came out five minutes later, wearing a emerald green bikini; which, like Teri's, matched her eyes perfectly.  
  
James had by then gotten out of the pool, and surprised her with a kiss when she asked where he had gotten to.  
  
All in all it was the perfect end to the summer, forgetting their worries, forgetting that dangers existed outside their world, and one day, their world would no longer exist.  
  
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Diagon Alley, was rather empty for it being just before the beginning of the summer.  
  
They had met up with Remus at the Leaky Cauldron, and had just finished getting their books; Lily and Teri's parents had given them money to by their school supplies, and the five of them were with Remus, Sirius, and James' parents were with them.  
  
"Can we stop for ice cream?" asked Sirius. "Please, please, please. . ."  
  
"Of course you can, dear," said his mother, handing him several sickles. "Now, Sirius, I don't want to hear anything about you breaking anything while your over there. Be good."  
  
Sirius nodded, and the five of them walked over to the ice cream parlor.  
  
They each got a waffle cone, and they sat outside licking the slowly melting heaps of deliciousness.  
  
That was when they heard a scream . . . 


	3. Diagon Alley Attacked

Diagon Alley Attacked  
  
That's when they heard a scream . . .  
  
They saw the, nearly fifty, people in Diagon Alley running every which way.  
  
"Quick," said Remus, "Hide."  
  
They all dropped their ice creams, and the five of them ducking into an abandoned alley, "Guys, cover us," said Teri, she and Lily began madly taping bricks seeing if any of them were passages out of the Alley.  
  
They stopped when one of the bricks started to grow into a hollow hole. They crept inside, and huddled together, praying that they would be safe, and that nothing would happen to their families.  
  
The wall closed up, leaving only one small hole open as a peep hole.  
  
James looked out into the alley, and in the street he could see people panicking, several of them carrying others; he couldn't watch any more, it was too much for any seventeen year old to stomach.  
  
~*********~  
  
An hour later the noise stopped.  
  
They crawled out of their hiding place, and looked up and down the street.  
  
Dead aurors and other miscellaneous magical beings littered the street.  
  
Teri started to cry on Sirius' shoulder, and he and she sat down on one of the last upright chairs in front of the ice cream parlor.  
  
Remus was looking over the dead, identifying as many as he could; James and Lily walked up and down the street, looking for any signs of Death Eaters, or anyone else who was still alive.  
  
There was a quiet pop, and James' mother appeared, "Oh sweetie," she cried pulling him into a tight hug, "I was so worried." She looked around at the destruction, "Oh dear."  
  
That was when Sirius and Remus' parents appeared in the company of James' father.  
  
Lily was kneeling over one of the bodies littering the street. She flipped him over with a quick rotation spell, and gasped when she saw his face.  
  
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It was the Minister's wife, infamous for dozens of affairs with high ranking ministry officials.  
  
"OMG," whispered Lily. "Ms. Potter, I think you should see this."  
  
Ms. Potter came over, and gasped, eyes wide, when she saw the face of the dead woman.  
  
"That's not what is so interesting," said Lily, holding up the woman's arm, "she was a Death Eater."  
  
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Suddenly, the Alley was swarming with reporters snapping pictures, and reporters taking notes of the scene.  
  
"Lily?" called Remus.  
  
"Yes?" asked Lily walking over to him. She followed his gaze to a single white lily in the middle of the street.  
  
Then, she fell to her knees, her hand brushing the delicate flower; it turned to ash, and in an instant, there hovered, in little blue letters, over the pile of ash, "You're Next My Lily." 


	4. End of Summer Gloom

End of Summer Gloom  
  
"Lily, honey, c'mon, we' got to go, your parents can't get into the Alley. We have to go meet them outside," said Teri, shaking Lily's arm.  
  
Lily opened her eyes and looked up at her friend, "It's all my fault."  
  
"Lily you have to stop saying that, it's not your fault; it's His, and he has to learn that you are a force to be reckoned with."  
  
Lily didn't say anything, James helped her up, and together the five of them walked in silence towards the entrance of Diagon Alley, followed by the Blacks, Potters, and Lupins.  
  
~**********~  
  
A tall dark figure paced back in forth muttering to itself; he paced back and forth and his followers were confused, they like him were cloaked in black cloaks.  
  
There was a small *pop* and medium, tall figure appeared. The person turned towards the leader and fell to it's knees, the cloak (that was all you could see of the person), in a male voice said, "Master I have failed you, please have mercy. It could not be helped."  
  
The leader laughed, a cold hard, bone-shivering laugh, "You fool, you know as well as I that I never take mercy on anyone. Be it you; me; or even my own mother, especially not my mother," said the cold voice as an after thought. "Crucio."  
  
The kneeling figure fell the rest of the way to the ground, screaming in pain. Several of the other cloaks winced, but did nothing; they all knew that if you failed the Master he would torture you, and when he was bored he would kill you, and unlike hid victims, he did not expend the mercy of killing with a curse, he would do it naturally, chaining you to a wall and summoning your heart, right out of your chest. It was the same as if you failed to report that you had failed.  
  
He was a harsh master, but if you served well, and were loyal he would grant you all the riches in the world.  
  
~**********~  
  
They had gotten all of their school supplies, and the parents had decided that the children would return to their own homes until the beginning of the year.  
  
Lily's father came into her bedroom, "Lily, pumpkin, you mother just remembered that this came for you at the beginning of the summer. It was so busy with all the redecorating she set it aside and sort of forgot about it, but er, here you are."  
  
Lily who had been looking out the window turned, gave him her thanks and when he had left she opened the letter. . .  
  
"Dear Ms. Evans, We are pleased to inform you that you are this year's new Head Girl,"  
  
There was a pop and a shiny new badge appeared in her free hand.  
  
"your badge should arrive momentarily. Congratulations.  
  
We would also like to inform you that Headmaster Dumbledore will meet you on the train, he will have something to say to you and the new Head Boy.  
  
Congratulations from the Faculty of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry,  
  
Sincerely,  
  
Minerva McGonagall"  
  
Lily sat there in shock, *Oh, wow, I'm Head Girl.* It was all she could think, *I had better not tell mum or dad, they'll both be more protective than they are now.*  
  
Lily went over to her desk and began to compose a letter to Teri; it might not make her feel better about the events of yesterday, but it would be nice to let her friend know.  
  
"Dear Teri, I cannot believe that this will be our last year at Hogwarts; it seems like we've attended forever, and at the end of the year it will all be over. But I didn't write to tell you anything depressing, THEY MADE ME HEAD GIRL!!!!! See You on the Train, Foxy"  
  
She sealed the letter with some red wax and her special stamp, and sent it off with her owl.  
  
Last year, Last chance, One more time.  
  
The year would come and go, and once again it they would survive. 


	5. Start of Year Glory

Start of Year Glory  
  
Lily boarded the train and walked to the front where she knew she would find Dumbledore and whoever the new Head Boy was.  
  
"Good morning Headmaster," said Lily when she got to the front of the train.  
  
"Good morning Ms. Evans, we'll begin when the Head Boy arrives," replied Dumbledore cordially.  
  
Lily nodded numbly, she had been in a state of depression since the beginning of the summer, and since the attack on Diagon Alley, it had only gotten worse. *I hope the Head Boy isn't that Diggory kid from Ravenclaw.*  
  
Just then James came bursting through the doors gasping, "I'm so *gasp* sorry *gasp* that I'm *gasp* late."  
  
"Quite alright Mr. Potter," said Dumbledore smiling. "Now, there are several matters to address; to begin. . ." He went on to explain their duties, and he added several things that he told them were strictly under confidence since he was under orders from the Ministry not to disclose them. "That will be all, I look forward to watching our school blossom under your guidance." Then, he left them alone.  
  
"Well, it's going to be quite a year," said James trying to get Lily to smile.  
  
"Yeah," said Lily, snuggling closer to him. *Maybe now I can forget everything, start over.*  
  
James wrapped his arms around Lily and they fell asleep.  
  
~**********~  
  
They were awoken by a loud crash and someone yelling outside their compartment door.  
  
"Guys let me in! She's trying to tickle me to death," said a voice that sounded oddly like Sirius, *giggle*.  
  
James got up, stretched, and opened the door to find Sirius lying on the floor, laughing his eyes out, Teri on top of him tickling him mercilessly, Remus and Peter standing behind them laughing almost as hard as Sirius.  
  
James started to chuckle when Lily woke up, "Hey guys," she said sleepily.  
  
James turned around, "Hey sleepy-head; how are you feeling?"  
  
"Okay," said Lily, she took one glance at Sirius and started to laugh, "do you guys want to come inside?"  
  
They accepted and the last half hour of their last ride together to Hogwarts became one they would never forget; their happiest moment, the crowning glory.  
~***********~  
When they got to the Great Hall, the new students were sorted, and Dumbledore stood up to make his new-school-year speech, "It is a new year, your brains are probably quite empty; but there are several matters that I wish to address. First, though against the wishes of the Ministry, I feel it necessary to tell you that there is a growing threat, his name is Voldemort. He is very dangerous, and our number is already suffering casualties from his existence. In one way or another we have all been affected my his reign, and I warn you all to be careful.  
  
I warn you all to stay away from the Forest, but if you should venture into it's depths I request that you go with someone you know can assist you should you ever be in need of help." The last part he directed at the Marauders, Lily and Teri.  
  
"On a happier note I'm pleased announce this year's Head Boy and Head Girl, James Potter and Lily Evans. That is all." Lily and James stood to a great deal of clapping.  
  
They sat down and everyone began to talk and eat, it was a happy time, and quite noisy; but not as noisy as in years past, the threat of Voldemort, now in the open weighed heavily on everyone's mind.  
  
~**********~  
  
When dinner was over Lily and James followed Professor McGonagall to the Head Students' private room.  
  
"This is your private room, the password is 'twinkling fairy', if you wish there are two rooms that could be opened for you if you wish to leave your current dorms," said McGonagall.  
  
"Thank you Professor," said Lily. Professor McGonagall told them how to open the extra rooms, and when she was done Lily and James went back to Lily's room, then, to the Gryffindor common room.  
  
~**********~  
  
"Hey guys," said James, "what did we miss?"  
  
"Nothing," said Remus, "Peter just left to meet his girlfriend, and Padfoot and Wings snogged for like, an hour before the two of you came to save me. I almost barfed all over the two of them."  
  
"We weren't that bad Moony," said Sirius. "Besides, we only kissed for ten minutes, if it was even that."  
  
Lily groaned, "Guys do we have to argue this now, we have pranks to plan. . ."  
  
The five of them planned their prank and got ready to put it into action.  
  
~**********~  
  
Three days later they all (Peter, Remus Sirius, Teri, Lily, and James) went down to the kitchens took some food, and added some clear potion to what was left; telling the house elves that they wanted to try some new flavorings that they had been working on.  
  
That night at dinner they watched as everyone around them ate their food and started to turn into different colored animals. The trick of it was, they didn't change back for a full ten minutes, all the while the six (includes Peter) of them ran around taking pictures of the rest of the school.  
  
When they did turn back there was a loud crack, and a firework exploded in the air forming the letters "MWWPPF" (Moony, Wormtail, Wings, Padfoot, Prongs, and Foxy).  
  
They all received ten detentions, and a very stern "I would have thought better of you being Head Boy/Girl/Seventh Years".  
  
But all in all, it was a good start to the year, and when all was said and done, everyone was still laughing. 


	6. Life Back to Normal AS IF!

Life Back to Normal . . . AS IF!  
  
The Marauders and Lily and Teri had detention for the nest ten nights with the cranky potions professor, disposing of hazardous expired potions, and creating new ones to replace them.  
  
But like everything in the world there was an upside, though the work was hard, the professor didn't seem to care whether or not they talked, only that the work got done.  
  
On their last night of detention the six of them walked down to the dungeons to find the professor sitting at her desk grading papers.  
  
When they walked through the door, she said to hem, "Get to work, there are only a few potions left; I have talked to Dumbledore, and when you finish the last few you may go."  
  
Just as she had said, there were only five potions left, it would only take them about forty minutes.  
  
Lily and James got started on brewing the Argali Potion, used to subdue large, raging animals.  
  
Teri and Sirius began taking down the names of ingredients needed for the other potions and disposing of them as they went along.  
  
And Remus and Peter began to brew new potions; or rather Remus brewed; and Peter, determined not to get anyone sent to the Hospital Wing, carried ingredients and made labels for the new potions.  
  
When the night was over, everyone was relieved; well, except for Sirius who was already planning on how to get another detention; that detention was over.  
  
"You guys hungry?" asked Sirius already heading down to the kitchens.  
  
"Sure, why not," said Remus turning to follow him.  
  
They all went down to the kitchens and had a mini feast of swiss rolls (A/N: if you've never had one, do), butterbeer, éclairs, and various chocolates.  
  
~***********~  
  
Lily and James sat in the Prefects' meeting room waiting for the stragglers to come in for the first prefects meeting of the year.  
  
When the last prefect got to the meeting Lily began, "Now that we're all here, it's time to start planning the first event of the year. We need ideas for the Halloween Event."  
  
One of the new fifth year prefects slowly raised her had, "I have an idea," she said quietly.  
  
"Yes?" responded James.  
  
"We could have a Trick or Treat during the day, where everyone dresses up, and the teachers will be in their classrooms, and when a person comes to them they'll give them a number of tickets based on their costume, and at the end of the day we could have a carnival where you could use the tickets to play games, and stuff."  
  
Lily and James smiled at each other, "It's brilliant," said Lily. "Now, we have to decide who's doing what."  
  
They got down to serious planning after deciding who was in charge of what.  
  
The Ravenclaws were in charge of the decorations in the east corridors, Slytherins of the west corridors, Hufflepuffs of the south, and Gryffindors of the north; each prefect would also be responsible for their common room. They would all pitch in to help with the Great Hall, and the Entrance Hall. Dumbledore had agreed that the teachers would be responsible for their classrooms.  
  
Several hours later, they were finished with their plans and would begin preparations at the next meeting.  
  
~***********~  
  
"Tell me you have good news," said the harsh voice of Voldemort.  
  
"Yes master," said another voice.  
  
"Well what is it," said Voldemort, grabbing the small figure by the neck, causing the figure to gag.  
  
"She'll be at the carnival, on Halloween."  
  
"Good," said Voldemort dropping the small person. "Just excellent, that girl really is a fool," he said to no one in particular.  
  
~***********~  
  
The gang walked to Charms together, Lily had decided to forgo the use of her wand during class for the practice, and would only use it when necessary.  
  
They all sat down in the front and pulled out their quills, they had a test and it would begin as soon as the professor got to class.  
  
The professor walked through the door of his office and the test appeared on their desks.  
  
Twenty minutes later, they all lined up in the middle aisle and cast the charms they had learned that month.  
  
Unsurprisingly, all but Peter and one of the Hufflepuffs they had charms with completed the charms with relative ease, and everyone managed to get a passing grade.  
  
Then, the two houses went their separate ways, the Hufflepuffs to their free period, and the Gryffindors to Transfiguration with the Ravenclaws.  
  
Transfiguration was a blast; they were working on morphing a person into an inanimate object, Peter, as usual, managed to biff it up and turned this one Ravenclaw into a raging hippogriff.  
  
Scared the Ravenclaws half to death, and made most of the girls faint, it took four of the boys, and Professor McGonagall to turn the poor girl back and wake up the rest of the class.  
  
Then, the girl attacked Peter when she was back to normal, and made his nose bleed when he fell into the table, and by the time they got her to stop Peter was about two pints of blood lighter.  
  
The whole thing was funny to everyone, except for Peter, but it all turned out okay.  
  
Peter of course earned about three hours more tutoring from his professors, just to top his nearly six hours of tutoring.  
  
It was kind of sad; Peter now had enough time to go to the bathroom, and sleep, when he wasn't studying. The sad thing was the *everyone* felt sorry for him, even the Slytherins who never felt sorry for anybody.  
  
~**********~  
  
Lily started down the corridor, it was time for History of Magic; easily the most boring class in the history of classes. (pardon the pun)  
  
Lily sat down next to James and curled up by his side, quickly falling asleep.  
  
One of the second years walked in about half way through the lesson that no one was listening to and handed James the only half awake person in the room a note from Dumbledore.  
  
"Please inform everyone that all students are to be sent to their common rooms. When everyone is in their common room please have yourself, Ms. Evans, and the rest of the prefects meet in the prefects meeting room.  
  
Professor Dumbledore"  
  
James stood up, woke up Lily, showed her the note, and went to speak with Professor Binns. . . 


	7. A New Routine

A/N: Hey folks, I'm so sorry if y'all feel neglected, but I was suffering from a sever bout of imagination failure and couldn't think of anything interesting to write for MONTHS! Oh, and do forgive any spoilers, of my story, or that of JK Rowling; OotP wasn't good for my imaginative health. Sirius doesn't fit his family at all, and Harry has PMS.  
  
But enough of me.  
  
On with the show-  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
A New Routine  
  
The prefects all met in the Prefect's lounge, where Professor Dumbledore informed them of the political turmoil happening in the world. They would be in charge of answering all questions put to them about the situation, but only if they were asked a direct question; the school was not to be thrown into any unnecessary panic. Should they be unable to answer any of the questions asked of them they were to write an note excusing the student from their next class, and deliver the student to the headmaster's office with all due speed.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Teri yawned loudly, "YO, Foxy, wake-ee, wake-ee!"  
  
Lily mumbled and rolled over.  
  
"C'mon, we got to get to breakfast, or we'll be sitting in Double HoM for three hours without any nourishment."  
  
Lily opened her left eye, slowly. "Fine," she said in a groggily.  
  
Twenty minutes later, they were up, groomed, and dressed. Their book bags packed with their morning class' books, and a pillow.  
  
As they entered the Great Hall, Teri said, "I am SO glad your mum got us these mini pillows, I swear, Professor Binns has been doing something to enhance the drone of his voice. 'Cause it keeps getting worse."  
  
They arrived late, as they had been doing since two days after the start of the term, due to Teri's notice of Lily's emotions during the arrival of the morning mail. Lily would look up, as she did every morning, when the owls arrived, and see the black owls bearing official looking Ministry sealed letters.  
  
"What's for eating?" asked Lily, sitting down next to James.  
  
"The usual," replied James moodily. Some people were just not morning people until they had a triple shot espresso cup of coffee in their systems.  
  
The girls took a helping each of scrambled eggs, French toast, and bacon. Then, pouring a cup of orange juice each for themselves they began to eat.  
  
Remus burst out laughing. "I never noticed, but appearances aside, you two are the most identical people I have ever met."  
  
"What are you talking."  
  
".about Remus?"  
  
Remus' eyes widened, "Egad, you did it again. The two of you are like telepathically connected, or something."  
  
"What are you talking about?" asked Sirius, sincerely confused by, what he viewed as, his friend's lunatic ramblings.  
  
A look of understanding dawned on Teri, "Are you talking about the food, and the."  
  
".finishing each other's sentences?" finished Lily, smirking.  
  
Remus couldn't help it, he started laughing again. Nodding as he almost fell of his chair.  
  
"You might not have noticed, but we've always been like this," said Lily with a grin.  
  
"We decided to hold back last year, since we didn't know you guys to well," finished Teri, smiling at her friend.  
  
Remus started laughing harder. "Well, it's funny, that's all. In fact, when they get excited, Siri and Jamie do the same thing." He paused for a breath, "I've just never seen anyone other people who knew each other well enough to talk as if they were one person."  
  
"Hey guys," said Peter, walking up.  
  
"Hey Pete," said James, halfway through his coffee and feeling slightly human.  
  
Peter looked at his watch, as he grabbed a piece of toast. "Guys, class starts in a few, we'd better go."  
  
They got up, James quickly downed his coffee and poured some more into his thermos. Together the six of them trudged to their first class, Advanced Double History of Magic.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
"Tell me again, why we are taking this class?" asked Sirius grumpily, as Prof. Binns drawled on about the Ministry of Magic in the 16th century.  
  
"Because," said Lily, lifting her head off her pillow, "It was either this or Muggle Studies. And we decided to take our first class together; then, when we voted, and you and Peter were the only ones who wanted to take Advanced Muggle Studies."  
  
"Oh."  
  
The class continued, there were three people who weren't completely asleep or dazed. Kirk Daniels, a Ravenclaw, who was sketching the tree outside the window; Remus, who woke up every twenty minutes or so, wrote down a fact, and fell asleep again; and James, who was avidly studying Lily's sleeping form, committing every detail to memory.  
  
There was, however, one interruption. Sirius woke up, and saw the engrossed look James was giving Lily, and exclaimed loudly, "For Merlin's sake, take a bleedin' picture! It'll last longer, and then, you can look at her whenever you bloody well want to."  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
"Hey Danny," said Lily, on her way to AP Transfiguration.  
  
"Hey Lily," he replied, "How's school been so far."  
  
"I really wouldn't know," she said wryly. "I've been asleep for most of it, and on the off chance that I'm awake for a class, I find myself thinking about. something completely off the subject."  
  
*(A/N: for those of my gentle readers who are painfully ignorant, not that I mean anything by that if you are, Lily is referring to James, as the "something.")*  
  
Danny smiled, "See ya later."  
  
"You too."  
  
She got to Transfiguration, and dropped her books in her usual place. Moments later, James plopped down next her.  
  
"Ladies and gentlemen," began Professor McGonagall. "The headmaster and I have discussed the issue thoroughly, and have decided, that this class can teach you nothing more than basic theory, for all ensuing skill would be based upon your personal magical ability. Therefore, we are going to be learning evasive and tactical action. For those of you who do not wish to continue with this course let me know and we will have to transferred to another class of your choosing, or you will be given a free study period in the Library. I warn you, should you choose to continue with this class, you will be stretched to your limit. This will be more than a mental course; you will be tested again and again physically and emotionally as well."  
  
They all looked at their teacher flabbergasted. This was something that had never happened before, but their all gazes were soon replaced with expressions soon changed to ones of steely determination.  
  
Looking around Professor McGonagall said, "Very well, I shall give notice to Professor Dumbledore that you will all be staying."  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
When class was over, all twelve students in the class filed out, of the room silently. The professor had sent an owl to Professor Dumbledore, and commenced filling them in with their course requirements. They would not be graded in this class. They would receive an O if they managed to stay with the course, and overcome all the tests; which they learned would be obstacle courses, lined with physical, mental, and emotional challenges. If they should fail, they would be placed in another class of their choosing.  
  
"Wow," said Sirius.  
  
"My sentiments exactly," said Teri, leaning against his tall frame.  
  
"So, we're going to begin unofficial, Auror training," said Lily, looking determinedly aghast.  
  
"Yup," said Remus, still partially in a state of shock.  
  
James didn't say anything, "This is my chance, I can finally do something with my life. This is what I've been waiting for."  
  
They walked down the corridors towards the northern quadrant of the school to meet up with Peter for lunch. 


	8. OO OOO PRETTY BATHROOMS!

The five of them sat down around Peter.  
  
"Hey guys, what's eating you?"  
  
"Oh, nothing," replied Teri absently.  
  
"Transfiguration is going to be tough," added Remus.  
  
'Oh," said Peter looking relieved that no one had been hurt, "I thought it would be something like another kid getting beaten by the Whomping Willow."  
  
"No, no nothing like that Pete," said Sirius between mouthfuls. "But we do need to get up to the mountain. It needs a good cleaning."  
  
James took notice of the conversation going on around him and added, "Padfoot, the last time you cleaned anything you were like five. I was there, and that was only because there was a smudge of dirt on your broom."  
  
"Well, I never said I was going to do it, now did I?"  
  
Lily stood up, told them she was going to study for Charms, and walked up to her and Teri's room.  
  
When she got there, she sat down and cried.  
  
"Lily, sweetheart, tell me what's wrong."  
  
"Oh, Teri," cried Lily throwing herself into her friends arms. "I don't know what to do. More and more keep leaving to cry, and it's entirely my fault."  
  
"Never think that Lils, it's never been your fault. Voldemort is just trying to get to you."  
  
"But it's working."  
  
"Lily, if you really want to do something, I'll go with you to the study every night, and we can practice dueling, and spells. That way as soon as we leave school we'll be able to catch that bastard."  
  
Lily sniffed and nodded.  
  
"Now here's a tissue, blow your nose and we'll get you cleaned up."  
  
Teri gathered their books and together they headed to Charms.  
  
The next day in Transfiguration, everyone dressed in exercise clothes; even McGonagall, a stranger sight was never seen. For the muggle-born or half- half's this meant regular gym clothes, but for most of the purebreds this meant robes. McGonagall gave the purebreds muggle gym clothes, and began the first lecture.  
  
"When you are working out in the field, you will be in plain view of muggles. This means you wear muggle clothes. If you don't like it you may leave. For those of you who do not own any muggle clothes, the school with provide clothes for you. Now for our first lesson we will be learning evasive tactics, dodging. Your best defense against a curse is not to get hit. Now you will be running first, this entire unit is based on your agility. "  
  
McGonagall led them to the Quidditch pitch where they ran five kilometers, then stretched as McGonagall explained to them the things they would be doing, running around cones, rolling, and pairing up to practice stunning and dodging.  
  
It was hard, sweaty work. Those who had played sports, magical or otherwise did the best, but everyone managed to complete the exercises. There was little talking; everyone too occupied to think of anything else.  
  
"Okay, that was very good for the first day. But we still have work to do; we will be doing the same thing tomorrow. Do not for get the clothes you need to change."  
  
The entire class walked to the locker rooms.  
  
Since half of the class was on a Quidditch team, the appearance of the changing areas were not anything other than what they were used to, but for the rest of the class the spacious rooms with individual showers, hundred galleon toilets, and two meter by one meter lockers was a bit of a shock.  
  
Professor McGonagall stood between the doors and said, "Those of you not on one of the house teams have been assigned lockers with your names on them, please store your gear there. The items will be cleaned and returned fresh by the time we have our next class. Please change and return to the castle when you have finished getting dressed, your next class starts in fifteen minutes."  
  
"Wow Teri, I didn't know that these locker rooms were so nice. Why didn't you tell me... I might have been more amiable to coming down here with you."  
  
"Hahahaha! Lily you always do know how to lighten the mood." 


End file.
